New Faces at Stoneleigh-Burnham School

The Stoneleigh-Burnham School community warmly welcomes its new faculty members.

New faculty attend an orientation session lead by Dean of Students Kristen Peterson.

Julian Findlay: Director of the winter drama production, drama club advisorJulian recently completed an ALB in drama from Harvard University and has completed additional actor training with Shakespeare & Company. As a working actor, Julian has performed with Shakespeare & Company, Shakespeare Stage, Silverthorne Theater Co., and Commonwealth Shakespeare, among others, and has directed productions by Shakespeare Stage, Shakespeare & Co., Atlantis Playmakers’ Theater and Northfield Mount Hermon School. Julian also helped with last year’s SBS theater production.

Patrick Garland: Head varsity basketball coachPatrick will coach the varsity basketball team this winter. He holds an MA in English from Western New England College and a BA in English from the University of Massachusetts. He has many years of experience coaching varsity soccer, tennis and basketball. He currently teaches English at Greenfield High School.

Apple Gifford: Academic Center Director, history teacher
Apple earned a BA in Religious Studies from Yale University and an MEd in Middle School Education from Lesley University. Before coming to SBS, she served as Assistant Head of School at The Grammar School, in Putney, Vermont, and Curriculum Director at Oak Meadow School in Brattleboro, Vermont. As the Director of the Academic Center, Apple oversees the coordination of learning support at SBS and loves her time working one-on-one with students. She finds the learning process endlessly fascinating and enjoys working closely with students to develop individual learning strategies. Apple also teaches 9th grade World History and helps deliver the SBS volleyball team safely to away games. She lives on a farm in Vermont with her husband and two daughters.

Ian Jamieson: Mathematics and physics teacher, varsity soccer coach, math team advisor, houseparentOriginally from England, Ian holds as BSc in physics from Robert Gordon’s Institute of Technology in Scotland and a MS in Physics from the Institute of Physics in London. Ian has taught mathematics, physics, engineering, astronomy and robotics at Dublin School, The Grammar School and Westover School, among others. He has also served as a research physicist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and as an instructor in neuroscience and research engineer at National Space Biomedical Research Institute and Baylor College of Medicine.

Alex Loud: History teacherAlex received his BA from Bowdoin College in German language and culture with a minor in European history and his MA in history from Smith College. Alex teaches online literature, writing and history courses to home-schooled students through Oak Meadow School and has taught learning skills, academic writing and other courses at Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH), where he was also Assistant Director of the NMH School Farm for many years. In addition, Alex has taught history at Linden Hill School and several other area high schools.

Victor Lucio: Spanish teacher, coach, houseparent
Victor is a Spanish teacher, coach and houseparent. He is currently working on his MA in Spanish Language Pedagogy through Middlebury College. He holds a MA in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Albany, SUNY, and BA degrees in Spanish Language and World Business, and English Literature with minors in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Tennessee. Victor spent the last year teaching at a bilingual school in Madrid, Spain, and has also taught Spanish at the University of Albany, SUNY. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Victor is passionate about food and cooking, and is a former café owner. Victor lives on campus with his two cats.

Christina Maerlender: French teacher, Beginning Dance teacherChristy graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a BA in biology and French. In her time at Mount Holyoke, Christy served as a French tutor, French department liaison and campus tour guide. She also spent a year abroad in Montpellier, France. During the summers she has worked as an Environmental Educator at the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont and as an assistant French teacher at Kimball Union Academy Language Camp. In addition to French and biology, Christy is also passionate about dance and will teach beginning dance this year.

Chris Marks: Chemistry teacherChris holds a BS in chemistry from The College of William and Mary. He has taught science at several schools in California and Virginia, including Marymount High School, Ojai Valley School, Middleburg Academy and Hermitage High School. In addition, Chris was as a lab supervisor at the University of Virginia, an associate research scientist for Reynolds Metals Company and a chemistry research assistant at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Sarah McEachern: Stable Manager
Sarah is the Stable Manager at the Equestrian Center. She comes to us from New York State. Sarah earned her BS in Animal Science at the University of Vermont in 2011 and has since worked as a rider, groom, barn manager and wrangler. She has worked at Cedar Crest Farm in Pine Plains, N.Y., Scott Stewart’s Rivers Edge Farm in Flemington, N.J., Witzemann Sportpferde in Winterlingen, Germany, Camp Greystone in Tuxedo, N.C., Ahern Racing in Germantown, N.Y., New York Equine Fitness in Germantown, N.Y. and A Bar A Ranch in Encampment, Wyoming, among others. She is working on earning her British Horse Society (BHS) certification and has been involved with 4-H programs and a summer camp for girls.

Jennifer Merris-Dolk: Associate Director of the Equestrian CenterJenn has a stellar background as both an instructor and a director of riding, with extensive experience as a coach, rider, trainer and instructor in Hunter Jumper and Hunt Seat Equitation. For 13 years she ran the riding program at Linden Hall and has extensive background with IEA, clinics, horse shows and recruiting. She has studied equine science at Colorado State and communications at Elizabethtown College in New Jersey.

Hannah Richards: Art teacher
Hannah is a visual arts teacher as well as a practicing artist. Her work integrates her background in biology with drawing, painting and printmaking, and her teaching is informed by these practices as well as her training and interest in mindfulness, social emotional learning and green art materials/methods. She has taught preschool through college level art and is delighted to return to teaching middle and upper school art at SBS. Hannah earned an M.F.A. in Fine Art from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a B.A. from Smith College. She was awarded a Schultz Foundation Grant for biology research in 2003, a Kahn Foundation Fellowship in interdisciplinary studies in 2006 and is a recent grantee of a Turkey Land Cove Foundation Residency. Her work has been exhibited locally and internationally, most notably in several shows across the U.K. and at Manhattan Graphics Center in NYC.